The University of Florida Levin College of Law honored one of its longest-serving professors at a ceremony on Thursday. Dean Robert Jerry gave a speech and presented Baldwin with a plaque of recognition.

From the article:
Dean Robert H. Jerry led the ceremony honoring Baldwin with a speech and a commemorative plaque. Baldwin has seen the Levin College of Law progress significantly in his 50-year tenure.

“We just produced lawyers for Florida to an international law school,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin said that he has stuck with UF for so long because of the freedom they granted him to teach the way that he wanted to teach. He switched from practicing law to teaching because of his experience with constitutional law.

“The reason I went into teaching is I could practice constitutional law and I could also impart my views in teaching constitutional law,” he said.

Baldwin is still teaching constitutional law and he has no plans for retirement: “My body will tell me when to retire.”

Stuart R. CohnJohn H. & Mary Lou Dasburg Professor of Law

Cohn was one of three speakers in a nationally broadcast telebriefing by Law Seminars, Inc., “Benefit Corporations: Pros and Cons for Socially Conscious Start-Ups,” on Sept. 12.

Cohn also was named one of two Foreign Distinguished Experts by the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing and will give lectures and seminars to students and faculty over a three-year period.

A Florida police officer who ran over a suspect with his car, and was subsequently fired, will not be charged after the case went before a grand jury.

From the article:
“It is fairly standard practice for SAO’s to refer such cases as this to a grand jury. The prosecutor in a case like this is in a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t situation,” Dekle wrote in an email. “If the prosecutor makes the decision unilaterally, no matter what decision the prosecutor makes, it will be criticized.

“A no-file decision will be criticized as being motivated by friendship of prosecutors for law enforcement officers. A decision to file is open to the criticism that the prosecutor is trying to gain political advantage by engaging in the prosecution,” Dekle wrote.

A Florida police officer who ran over a suspect with his car, and was subsequently fired, will not be charged after the case went before a grand jury. The man who was killed had a criminal record and the article examines whether or not this could have been a factor in the grand jury’s decision.

From the article:George R. “Bob” Dekle, a former prosecutor who leads the University of Florida law school’s criminal prosecution clinic, told ThinkProgress he likely would not have considered Brown’s prior convictions relevant and would not have submitted them to a grand jury. He acknowledged, however, that grand jurors frequently ask the prosecutor about prior convictions. He would tell them it is not relevant but would offer to provide the information if they insist on knowing it, in order to “maintain a working relationship with the grand jury.”

The Florida Supreme Court decided against the St. Johns River Water Management District in a 20-year legal battle involving the potential development of wetlands purchased in 1972. When owner Coy Koontz proposed developing a portion of the land in 1994, but a permit was denied a permit after rejecting part of the deal having to do with him being responsible for mitigating land conditions outside of the proposed development area.

From the article:
Mark Fenster, a University of Florida law professor who wrote an amicus brief in support of the district, says he was hoping for a “clearer decision.” But he thinks the decision leaves regulating agencies two choices:

“They could avoid getting into any discussion with a developer and just deny a permit application until the developer presents them with a mitigation plan that they like. If they did that, then they would be likely to win a lawsuit the developer files, because Koontz wouldn’t apply. It only applies when the government demands mitigation,” he says. “Or, they could get into discussions with developers, but only present possibilities which they are confident they could defend in court. Now, in the abstract that’s OK, but the problem is that doing the kind of studies required to defend these concessions is time-consuming and expensive. So, (Koontz) is likely to formalize the development process and chill negotiations between developers/property owners and local governments.”

Mazur commented in this article that looks at the concerning number of sexual assault cases in the military and the Article 32 proceedings, which experts say are overly intrusive and can prevent victims from coming forward.

From the article:
Many military legal experts were appalled by what they heard. “What this case shows is that we think the military justice system can somehow solve the sexual assault problem, but it can’t,” said Diane H. Mazur, an emeritus law professor at the University of Florida.

Elizabeth A. RoweUFRF Professor of Law; Feldman Gale Term Professor in Intellectual Property, Director; Program in Intellectual Property Law

Rowe was the Keynote Speaker at the Trade Secret Management and Monetization Symposium, sponsored by the Center for Applied Innovation & Ocean Tomo in Chicago on Sept. 10.